In an exclusive interview with Card Player, Ultimate Fighting Championship star Lerone Murphy looked ahead to his upcoming bout with Aaron Pico, and explains why he sees a bit of himself in “inspiration” Mike Tyson. The Brit also touched on who he thinks would have the best poker face in the industry.
Card Player: Have you played much poker and if so, are there any tactics you can take from the octagon to help you win at the poker table?
Lerone Muprhy: I’ve had a few friendly games to be honest, and I reckon I’m pretty good. I think it’s just a poker face which is the main thing. And not showing your emotions or if you are showing your emotions, it’s to feel them more.
CP: Bluffing is obviously crucial in poker. Which MMA fighter do you think would have the best poker face?
LR: That’s a hard question. I’d say the best poker face would be Alex Pereira, because his emotion just doesn’t change.
CP: How are you feeling? You’re into your camp at the moment. It’s only a three week camp rather than a 12 week camp, which I think you said is actually beneficial to you in some ways.
LR: Yes, it has pros and cons. Obviously you don’t get a full training camp to work on the technical aspects of the game and of your opponent. But the game’s forever changing and you have to be ready for these things. And even if I did have a 12 week camp, sometimes the opponent gets hurt and you get a new opponent anyway. So, it’s something you have to be ready for. And I’ve been training, so I feel good. But, the other side of the coin is – you’re going from 50% intensity training to 100%. Also you have to make the weight as well. So, it’s been hard mentally, physically as well, obviously, but I’m sure it’ll work out in the end.
CP: You walk around at 175-180 and fight at 145. That’s a brutal weight cut. You tweeted “I nearly forgot how shit weight cutting is.” How are you finding it right now?
LR: Yeah, it’s tough. I love food, so I could go up to 185 to be honest. So when I’m deprived of food, I’m miserable.
CP: I saw you say to Ariel Helwani that you’re going to get ten pizzas in Chicago after the fight, I bet you’re looking forward to that?
LR: Well this what I’m saying, there’s light at the end of the tunnel and when you’ve got something to look forward to, it makes it better.And also it makes you appreciate food more.
CP: Most fighters would hesitate at a short-notice fight against someone like Pico. You said yes immediately. What’s the conversation you had with yourself at that moment?
LR: For me, I was just openly waiting. Like obviously there’s a lot of risk with it, but there’s also a lot of reward with it. And being in my position, being a fighter like me and being in my position where I could end up having six, seven fights before I get a title shot, I’m just being me. I believe you have to take these risks. Do the favors. And if it comes off, then I’m next in line for sure. So I feel like it’s worth rolling the dice. And on the other side of the coin, I want to fight the best fighters in the world. And if people are saying, ‘this kid’s going to be the best fighter in the world.’ I wanna challenge myself.
CP: Darren Till went through a similar incident (shooting) in the early years of his career and he decided to leave the UK and go and train in Brazil but you didn’t think about leaving Manchester?
LR: Do you know what it’s a cliche but MMA really, really saved my life and changed my perspective on things because I started MMA training after that incident, obviously. I feel like it taught me something, it gave me something to aim for, something to wake up and think about and take my energy off of that incident, and it definitely saved my life.
CP: Your opponent Aaron Pico is known for his explosive style and strong wrestling background – how do you see your skillset matching up against his and is there anything you’re going to change?
LR: I believe that strengths are also weaknesses and he is very explosive, very dangerous, and applies a lot of pressure, but he also leaves himself open with that style. It’s a fan friendly friend style with a lot of exchanges and I believe it’s going to be a firefight. I believe it’s going to be a great fight. I think it’s probably the toughest matchup I’ve had so far in my career stylistically and it’s going to be a great fight, man. But I think I can find holes and I believe I’m going to come out victorious.
CP: You tweeted that you love being a dark horse and you are actually a slight underdog in this fight. Do you thrive on being an underdog?
LR: Do you know what? I prefer to be an underdog, to be honest. With pressure you don’t perform as well, I believe. When I go in there and I just think it is what it is, I’m a fighter anyway. I’m never going to go in there and just mess about. But I’m going to be focused on that night and put the pressure on and I believe I do my best work with no pressure. Which might be strange to some. Some people perform under pressure but I think I do my best work [when I’m relaxed]. I’m less hesitant and I let it all go and that’s what you’re going to see.
CP: Pico’s been hyped up since he was a teenager but you’ve built your career fight by fight. So when you’re in there, of the two of you, who do you think has more to prove?
LR: He does for sure but we both want the title. We both want similar things. And like I said before, it’s going to come down to performance. We both need to go in there and put in a performance, you know what I’m saying? And it’s a pay-per-view card. Biggest spot I’ve fought in too. I’m looking forward to it. It’s huge. It’s huge.
CP: There’s always one thing that keeps a fighter awake the night before a big fight. What’s yours right now?
LR: Do you know what right now I’m sleeping, but fight week, I don’t sleep. And I think it’s just the anticipation of war and the anticipation that you’ll go in to fight in front of millions of people. There’s a lot riding on it financially and career wise, health wise, everything. There’s a lot riding on it. So you’ve been thinking about this thing for however long you’ve been in camp, and then it’s finally at your doorstep.
CP: Pico has had to change focus because he was fighting Mosvar Evloev and then obviously he pulled out, so now he’s had to switch to focusing on you. So would you say from a preparation point of view, that’s not really ideal for him?
LR: I suppose it is not, but at the same time, when you are an elite fighter, especially in MMA when you are a top 10 level fighter, you have to be ready for all styles and you have to train all styles. I believe everybody’s very well-rounded. This isn’t the 90s or early 2000s of MMA. We are in 2025. Everyone’s well-rounded. Back in the day when you would train for a straight kickboxer and then it would be changed to a complete wrestler. Everyone can do everything now so we have to be ready for all aspects of the game.
CP: What kind of statement are you looking to make against Pico in Chicago? Does it matter to you how you win or are you just out there for the win regardless of how it happens?
LR: My number one objective is just get the win. But I want to look good because I beat Josh Emett last time out, to me and to the coaches, that was a perfect game plan. I think I fought well but the fans didn’t agree. The fans don’t like a defensive performance. So it’s not really sat right with me that I didn’t get my flowers for the win. And that’s with modern day gladiators. So when we go out there and fight, it’s like we want the crowd to be roaring. Obviously it was in the Apex, so we’re not going to get that but you still want that feedback from the fans et cetera, to congratulate you and your work you’ve put in. So yeah, I do want to go out there and make a big statement. And I want to finish him.
CP: Before you signed with the UFC you were known as a bit of a knockout artist, but now haven’t had a KO since October 2021. What is the reason for this, do you think? Is it just a matter of better opposition?
LR: Do you know what, it can be a number of things. Number one, yeah the level of the opponent’s gone up massively. Number two, I think the weight cut is kind of like, I think I lose my power. I do lose my power. I lose my power and obviously as you get older the weight cuts get harder. So it’s probably depleting yourself more. I think that’s a big, big reason for it. But I am trying to round out my game. Before I was a dominant striker and I never really trained much for wrestling. But now I know I have to mix it up, so maybe that’s the reason.
CP: Have you ever thought about moving from featherweight up or do you have too much business to deal with at this weight?
LR: I feel like I’ve done the work here at featherweight and I want to be champion here. But maybe later on in my career. Maybe in the next year or two. We’ll see. But I feel like I’ve got a good chance of becoming champion here first. And we’ll see after that.
CP: How do you see Dricus vs Khamzat playing out?
LR: You know how Khamzat fights. Khamzat’s all gas on the pedal. And yeah, if he gets tired, he gets tired. It’s like what everyone’s saying and everyone’s saying, oh, if Khamzat wins he wins in the first round. If Dricus wins he wins later rounds, but I think you have to put more respect on Khamzat’s. He is not just going to gas out after the first round and give up if you don’t, if you don’t finish him. It’s going to be a tough fight for both of ’em, to be honest. But I see Khamzat getting his hand raised – maybe getting a third or second round submission.
CP: You said you got into MMA kind of a bit later on than some people might have done – who were your biggest combat sport inspirations?
LR: Mine’s always been Mike Tyson, just because I believe he had a similar upbringing as me, around the same stuff. And then turned his life around, went into fighting early and just smashed it and he was just himself. I’ve read his book and I’ve watched all his podcasts. That’s somebody that inspired me the most in terms of combat sports. His mindset and that his mindset was just like he had a good culture around him that goes, it was a good culture and I just think he just had a crazy mindset, man.
CP: You’ve got some boxing pedigree in your family but you chose MMA, what was the decision behind that?
LR: I suppose it’s just the way things happened. Do you know what? I had the chance to, but I never trained boxing. I never went down the boxing route, but I think MMA, as soon as I trained, I just loved it. And I just knew that’s what I wanted to do. Plus I think it’s just timing. God given. In my face and just go and do this now. That’s my only explanation for it.
CP: Every fighter says they’re mentally tough, but you’ve actually proven it, you know, like with your bouncing back from, from kind of adversity. Can you draw on those past experiences to push you through?
LR: I don’t think you actually think about the past experiences to push you through, but I think getting through tough things just makes you more resilient anyway. It’s just having that never say die attitude towards things. And you see that in my fights. Third round, I’m trying to come on strong, I’m still trying to win. Even if I’m down or whatever. And that won me the fight going into the third against Dan Ige.
It was 1:1 going into the third. I was losing at the start of the third round and I took it in the end, ’cause I wanted it more. And I just knew there’s no killing me. You have to kill me. You have to knock me out for sure. I’m going out on my shield.
CP: Four fighters for the MMA Mt. Rushmore, who are you choosing?
LR: I’ll go for Khabib, then Jon Jones, obviously. I’ll go for McGregor in his prime. And then, oh, the last one, maybe Jose Aldo. I did miss out. Anderson Silva. He’s one of the first guys that really got me into it, watching him. I have to swap him for Jose Aldo just because of how big he was at the start.
CP: Did you see Conor Benn call out Ilia Topuria? What did you, what did you make of that?
LR: Bro, you never see the boxers wanting to come to MMA. Ever. Only Clarissa Shields, she tried it out, so respect to her, you don’t see them. Not these elite boxers, ’cause they know. They know boxing is only one eighth of a fight, a real fight. So MMA is the closest thing to a real fight, let’s get in the cage.
CP: If you weren’t an MMA fighter, what do you think you’d be doing work-wise or lifestyle wise?
LR: Scary. Because I really don’t know. I really do not know. Growing up I wanted to be a football player. That didn’t happen. Then I wanted to do sports coaching. That didn’t happen ’cause I had a few little things from my past on my record, et cetera. So that did not happen. And then I got into MMA. If we are talking after fighting, I’ll go into coaching. But I don’t know what I’d be.
CP: Does an all British fight with Arnold Allen interest you at all at this point?
LR: I’m looking at anything to get to the title. I’ll fight anybody. Obviously there’s other options and probably better fights to take to get me there. I did think I would’ve been fighting Arnold Allen now, to be honest.
When I was looking at the division and everybody’s injured or matched up, Arnold Allen was the only one. So I did think I would’ve been fighting, but if the UFC wants it and he wants to, we can do it in the UK. I don’t think it’s going to happen for now. He knows.
CP: What do you think about the pound for pound debate at the moment in the UFC?
LR: It has to be Makhachev I think. Makhachev and then Topuria. I think those are the two.. Because if you look at what Topuria has done in the sport at the minute, he’s flying. And I think for him to make a real run for the G.O.A.T or whatever you wanna say. I think he has to beat Makhachev, and if he retires there, he can go down as one of the greatest.
CP: We’ve seen some crossovers between boxers and MMA fighters and WWE in recent years, would wrestling ever interest you? Did you ever watch it growing up?
LR: I used to love it growing up, The Rock, Stone Cold, but not anymore. I’ve got no interest in it now, it’s totally different. It’s not the same. Like tuning in for wrestling on a Saturday used to be the best as a kid, I had all the figures and everything.
CP: But if they called you up though and the opportunity came, you couldn’t turn it down though, could you?
LR: Of course not. It’s iconic in America, one of the biggest things out there, so for sure. So I wouldn’t be able to turn it down if they came calling.
CP: There’s rumors that Conor McGregor is back in the testing pool. Do you think he will ever return to the Octagon or is it all hype at this point?
LR: I think genuinely he wants to return, but is it doable? I don’t know. I believe once you’ve made that type of money and you’re living that type of lifestyle, it’s hard to come back, especially at that age, what is he now, 37? And he’s living a good life. He’s rich, he’s living his family life and he’s partying a lot, so I don’t think he’s ever going to come back the same if he does. And obviously he had the injury as well. He’s fighting a big uphill battle, but I think he wants to come back in his heart, but whether he does or not, we’ll never know, but it’d have to be the UFC because he’s under contract, he can’t fight anywhere else.
CP: When he fought Floyd Mayweather, obviously that was boxing and he made so much money off that, didn’t he?
LR: That’s partly UFC though. We still had to give like 50.
CP: What do you make of Conor’s bid to run for President of Ireland? Are his politics something you’re on board with?
LR: I’ve seen it, fair play to him, but I don’t really read too much into what he’s saying about it and what his goals are. But, I’ve seen him going for it. I don’t know if he’ll get it or not. I think if he went for it like five, six years ago then he’s the boy they would’ve had to take a chance on.
CP: Tell us one fight night superstition/ritual that you have that might be unique. Anything funny you do to relax yourself?
LR: So the night before, we just go for a team meal and just like take your mind off it. I think it’s almost like a celebration before the fight and you’ve made weight, you’ve done the camp. You have food, you relax, switch off. And that just helps you take your mind off the fight.
CP: But not on the day of the fight, like Daniel Dubois? He got all the boys around the house, didn’t he?
LR: Nah, that’s crazy. I think the result kind of showed that because how are you partying like you’ve already won. It was like he was celebrating the payday.
CP: Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane UFC 321. It’s been so long since we’ve seen Tom fighting, it’s been, what, 15 months? Will that inactivity have a negative impact on him or do you think he’s just raring to go regardless?
LR: I think he’s raring to go, and I think Tom’s just one of those special athletes as well. And I don’t see anybody in that division beating him at all. I think he’s going to have a good run and to be honest, I don’t know how he’s done it because I’ve been asking for a fight and after two months, three months of the UFC and it hurts for me when you’re healthy and you want to fight and you can’t actually fight. It’s hard for a fighter, so I don’t know how he’s done it for 15 months.
CP: I saw you saying that if you hadn’t taken this fight, you might not have had another fight till December or maybe even January?
LR: That’s another reason why I took the fight, because who knows what’s going to happen from now until then, we weren’t hearing anything. We were asking for a fight, a fight date so we could start preparing and they weren’t coming back with anything and then they just came up with this, so I couldn’t say no really.
CP: What’s on your playlist when you’re getting ready for a fight like this? Because I see on your Instagram there’s quite a lot of Tupac, like Notorious BIG. So is that your kind of hype up music?
LR: That is, yeah. I like the 90’s rap. But I’ll go through stages, so before when I’m traveling to the arena or whatever, I’ll listen to chilled, calm music, probably reggae music. You don’t wanna be in that zone yet. And then once you get to the arena, play some 90’s hip hop, just like vibes. And then as you get close to the fight, I like the darker tracks.
CP: Manchester was all about Oasis, wasn’t it? Oasis on their big comeback tour. Did you get involved in that or is that not really your cup of tea?
LR: Yeah, not really my cup of tea to be honest. But I liked that they’ll come back and I’ve seen a lot of the videos, they look good. Like the shows look good. It did look good. To be honest, if I didn’t have my heart set on the fight, I probably would’ve gone just to experience it.
It’s been like my whole summer, even my birthday like two weeks ago and I didn’t get to celebrate. I don’t think I’ve celebrated a birthday in years to be honest and I’ve always been trying to get a fight.
CP: You said you don’t watch football much anymore ’cause uh, I think Man United have disappointed you over the years, but maybe this year will be different. You got any thoughts on it or you just focus on your fight for now?
LR: You know what’s great with combat sports, I don’t have time. I don’t have 90 minutes to watch anymore, and then I just watch my sport. I’ve got all these up and come fighters that I need to watch, so I watch all the fights.